'My own sort of heaven': A life of Rosalie Gascoigne

New Zealand-born Australian artist, Rosalie Gascoigne who migrated to Australia from Auckland in 1943, first exhibited in 1974 at the age of 57. She rapidly achieved critical acclaim for her assemblages in response to the Canberra hinterland. The great blonde paddocks, vast skies and big raucous birds contrasted with the familiar lush green harbour city of Auckland she had left behind. Her medium: weathered discards from the landscape. By her death in 1999, her work had been purchased for major public art collections in Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand and New York, and had been exhibited across Europe and Asia. Gascoigne’s story is often cast in simple terms—an inspirational tale of an older woman ‘finding herself’ later in life and gaining artistic acclaim. But the reality is much more complex and contingent. This is a trans-Tasman story that explores Gascoigne’s early life in NZ and the growth of cultural life in Canberra, a developing Australian art industry and changing conceptions of aesthetic beauty.